Max Mosley needs to get bent. Because of his efforts, he is effectively ruining both the WRC and Formula 1.
Mosley's recent claim to fame (if you discount his whole Nazi-dominatrix fetish) is drastic cost-cutting and green initiatives for motorsports. Now, I personally see nothing wrong with either of these tasks, especially in Formula 1, where budgets have spiraled completely out of control. However, it's Mosley's Nazi-like control (there's that fetish again!) and highly questionable methods to establishing rules and regulations that are working to completely ruin both forms of motorsport.
We'll start with the World Rally Championship, as it is - at the moment - the least-effected of the two. Mosley claims that costs for the sport are too high, and has implemented drastic measures to try to bring these costs down in the coming seasons. However, based on my understanding of the average budget a factory-based World Rally Championship team is allowed each season, the budgets these teams work with are pretty reasonable. The major problem with the sport is the poor handling it has received on the promotion end of the spectrum. To say that the WRC brand has been mishandled is like calling General Motors bankrupt. It's stating the obvious. Hell, television rights are so screwed up with that sport that coverage isn't even available in the United States. Because of this - and here's the real money issue, not out-of-control budgets like Mosley would have us believe - the teams are not being compensated well for their media rights, and are thus forced to rely more on factory support and sponsorship dollars. Therefore, uh-oh - budget crisis! (To the FIA's credit, they have identified the fact that the sport's promotion needed work, and have addressed the issue, announcing a new television partner. No word yet on if that means coverage will return to the United States.)
So how would Mosley have the teams deal with this "budget crisis?" By completely flipping the sport's regulation on its head and mandating completely new engine specs for the 2011 season. Gone are the 2.0L Turbocharged 4-cylinder engines that have been a staple for the series for so long. Instead, teams will have to conform to engine specs laid out in the Super 2000 (S2000) series - non-turbo 4, 5 or 6-cylinder engines with output not exceeding 2.0L. Then, in 2013, turbocharging returns to motors limited to 1.6L output. So, the WRC is looking at two completely new engines in the span of 4 years. And this is supposed to slash budgets how? But furthermore, my biggest problem with this proposal is this: S2000 is a series that already exists. The WRC is a step above S2000; it's supposed to be the pinnacle of rally racing. Therefore, adopting the lesser S2000 specs for the WRC is a slap in the face of both series and their fans. Don't agree? Ask Subaru, a company who has been the face of the WRC in Japan and the United States for years, and one of the most popular teams in the championship. When these rules were finalized, the team quickly dropped out of the sport. Suzuki did the same, and Citroen is threatening to follow. 3 out of the 4 major manufacturers leaving a sport? I guess that's one way to cut budgets.
And then there's Formula 1. Oh, the mess Mosley has made of the so-called "pinnacle of motorsports." Since 2004, a number of Mosley's decisions regarding the sport have been called into question by the teams, the fans and the media (perhaps not so ironically, Mosley was supposed to relinquish his role as president of the FIA this same year. Five years later, the man is still in power). However, it is his current slap in the face of the teams that has really thrown the sport into chaos. In the interest of "cutting budgets," Mosley has enacted a number of changes to the sport, and proposed many additional ones, all without consulting the teams that are out there spending the money and putting on the show for the FIA to govern. These teams, recently banded together under the name Formula One Teams Association (FOTA), immediately protested the ridiculous way that these rules were implemented. The teams of the FOTA, excluding Williams and Force India, have stated that they would not take part in the 2010 F1 season without seeing some change to the governance. Mosley and the FIA refused, and therefore, 8 of the 10 current teams have, as of this writing, officially left the sport as of next season. Among these teams is Ferrari, who have been the only team to compete in every season of the F1 championship. The sport is effectively gutted.
Throughout this whole ordeal, it has been a challenge to determine who was in the right, and who was telling lies. While I'm still not 100% certain the information coming from the FOTA is completely accurate and trustworthy, I stand behind them over the FIA for one key reason: Formula 1 teams are never in agreement. Ever. But they are here. If that doesn't say that the sport's governance is completely backwards, nothing does. Except, maybe, some of the ridiculous rules that have been proposed/implemented. Such as...
- A spec tire manufacturer (currently implemented) - a big draw in F1 (and the WRC) used to be not only the rivalry between teams, but also between tire manufacturers.
- A freeze on engine development (currently implemented) - with such importance being placed on F1 being the pinnacle of automotive technical advancement, this decision is nothing short of ridiculous. If the sport wants to "go green," you can't freeze engine development!
- Ban on tire warmers (proposed) - this just has safety issues written all over it. Let's send a guy out on track with cold tires and expect him to complete 2-3 laps to get his tires up to temperature while the rest of the field zooms past him. I can't believe Mosley, with the emphasis he puts on safety, would even consider this.
- A 40-million Euro budget cap (implemented next season) - this was a big point of contention among the teams, as many felt the figure was strikingly low, which is true when compared to current budgets. While the teams acknowledge the need for smaller, controlled budgets and have claimed to have come up with acceptable compromises, Mosley remains pig-headed on the cap and appears to be considering very little negotiation with the 40-million Euro figure.
- Two-tiered rules (scrapped) - this is the main point of contention that started this whole firestorm between the FIA and the FOTA. Mosley attempted to design two sets of regulations for the F1 championship based on whether the budget cap was followed or not. Teams that remained under the cap were allowed much more regulatory freedom than other teams, effectively creating two specs in the sport. Thankfully, this ridiculous idea has been abandoned.
- Standardized engines (proposed) - and this one is the kicker, in my opinion. By definition, Formula 1 is a FORMULA sport, meaning all teams are given certain guidelines and specifications they must fit into, but may arrive at those specs at any means possible. This proposed rule, combined with the spec tire and rumored spec chassis, would turn Formula 1 into Nascar - teams driving around in what is essentially the same car. It's absolutely ridiculous, and goes against everything Formula 1 has ever stood for.
So, it appears that the teams are finally sick of the FIA's rules and the way Mosley implements them, and have decided to leave Formula 1 to start their own series. One can look to the Indycar/CART debacle to see how well this is going to turn out.
So thanks, Max. Thanks for being completely set in your ways. Thanks for denying the teams that make up Formula 1 and the World Rally Championship a voice in the decision-making processes that affect the sports they participate in. Thanks for implementing rules that take away from the excitement, limit the technological prowess, and effectively dumb-down my favorite sports. I hope you enjoy watching your dictatorship fall apart around you.
I know I won't.
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